Scrapin' Up the Bits... Backyard Chicken style

Jumping right into it...

Jill Richardson at La Vida Locavore does some reading and signals the warning bells about farm-raised shrimp:

As the shrimp grow, the water is treated with pesticides and more piscicides, but by far the gravest area of concern is the use of antibiotics to ward off disease. Acutely toxic to other marine organisms, they can cause contact dermatitis in the shrimp farm employees who administer them. When the plug is pulled on the ponds at the end of the growing season, hundreds of pounds of shrimp remain marinating in the toxic mud at the bottom, and pickers have to be hired to scoop up the stranded shrimp. ...

The adulteration of shrimp does not end at the pond... shrimp are routinely soaked in a solution of sodium tripolyphosphate, or STPP, a suspected neurotoxicant, still legal in the United States, that prevents seafood from drying out in transit and boosts product weight. Borax, best known as a hand cleaner and insecticide, is used to preseve the color of shrimp in some countries. The most unscrupulous countries use caustic soda to chemically burn tiger shrimp a customer-pleasing pink.

I only buy wild-caught fish these days, including shrimp, but eating fish has truly become a hazardous thing on a number of levels. It's really sad.

UPDATE: Via Twitter, Richardson responds to a question about whether wild-caught is all right. Her reply: "wild-caught is bad environmentally (it's caught via trawling and 90% of the catch is other species, killed and thrown away)." I'd like to confirm if this is the case everywhere, including in the Gulf.

On another serious note, have you seen these "smart choices" labels on various food items? I'm vaguely aware of them. Not surprisingly, they don't really mean much.

The criteria deciding which products are “better for you” were set by a panel of representatives from companies such as Kellogg’s, Con Agra and Kraft, as well as independent scientists from health organizations and Academia.

However, something strange must have happened in those criteria-setting meetings, if the result was a seal of approval for Froot Loops and other uber-sweet products. Fruit Loops is 41% sugar by weight, contains a rainbow of artificial colorings, and some trans-fat to boot.

Long story short, some folks who realized the "smart choices" were kind of dumb, got together, put some pressure on other signatories to the "smart choices" program, and those signatories, like the American Diabetes Association, are now leaving the program. They are deserving of a Stewie-style "Victory is Mine!"

Ever thought about raising chickens. In video form, writer Susan Orleans gives you the low-down.

We ate at one of LBoN's favorite places in the world, Dinette, over the weekend. Had a pizza with roasted eggplant and "Salsa Di Canella" on it. The salsa was, in effect, the sauce, and its flavor reminded me of garam masala. Our server said it did indeed have some of the same ingredients in garam masala. It was delectable. And now I'm thinking that it might be a good idea to roast some eggplant, throw it in the food processor with a little oil, some garam masala, some type of herb, and put it on some crostini type things.

I think I made one formal request, via email. But I don't like to be pushy. So perhaps I'll beg:

Please, China Millman, add a link to LBoN to First Bites' "food blogs" list.

For beer and Halloween freaks, Rogue has a special growler-sized edition of Dead Guy Ale that reportedly grows in the dark. You can pick one up, along with Oktoberfest and a multitude of pumpkin ales, at 3 Sons Dogs & Suds.

And, finally, I'm all up in this Twitter thing. It's quite addictive. I'm mostly using it for work purposes, at least in terms of my own "Tweets." But I'm needy. I can always use more "followers."

A Meal Fit for the New Year

Although I’ve had a few fun experiences on New Year’s Eve, more often I’ve had bad – as in sucky, miserable, annoying – evenings. So, for the time being, my wife and I have abandoned any pretense of big plans for Dec. 31. This year we opted for getting the kids to bed at their usual time and enjoying some good food under dim lighting in our dining room.

The menu had an inherently Indian flair, born from what I though would make an ideal choice for the meal’s centerpiece, lamb chops from Pucker Brush Farm, which I picked up in November at SlowFood Pittsburgh’s last Laptop Butcher of 2007.

Once we decided to prepare those lamb chops tandoori style, we needed some appropriate accompanying dishes. They were, for the appetizer, some tumeric, ginger, and cayenne-infused shrimp and, to play sidecar to the chops, a curried lentil, sweet potato, and chard stew-style dish.

I have little to add to the recipes themselves, which I mostly followed. I halved both the shrimp and lentil recipes, both of which worked out extremely well. The lentils required almost four cups of vegetable broth to get tender and stay moist.

The chops were truly luscious, some of the most tender meat I’ve ever had. And the tandoori marinade, so chock full of vibrant flavors, did not overwhelm the lamb at all. My only recommendation would be to scrape off some of the excess marinade from the chops before putting them on the grill. Otherwise, you might have a hard time getting what I think is a necessary bit of char on the chops, which are only on the grill for 10 minutes for medium rare.

Initially I had planned on a desert of vanilla ice cream, topped with crushed hazelnuts, dark chocolate shavings, and a splash of Bailey’s. But we switched gears and just had a big glass of an Icelandic ice wine, which with its pear flavors was a welcome way to end an excellent meal.

Shrimp O'Rama

Great Moments in The Simpsons’ History:

Cap’n McAllister: Ahoy, mateys! Had your fill of tacos? Would ye sooner eat a bilge rat than another burger? Then come for all-you-can-eat seafood at the Fryin’ Dutchman!

Homer: Marge, we’re going to that restaurant.

Marge: But I think I’m allergic to seafood. The last time I ate shrimp, my throat closed up, and I went into convulsions.

Homer: Mmmmmm…shrimp.

Speaking of shrimp, came across these two appealing shrimp recipes and thought I’d share the bounty. Have not made either, so can’t vouch for their quality. Read them and see what you think.

Shrimp Risotto, courtesy of Leite’s Culinaria, an interesting, but, IMO, strange site. Launched by well-known food writer (how do you become one of those?!) David Leite, this site is not a blog, not a news site, something altogether different. Whether that’s a good thing, I can’t tell.

From Food & Wine comes a Curried Shrimp and Carrot Bouillabaisse. Now, I’ve never made a bouillabaisse. Heck, for that matter, I’ve never eaten one! According to FoodGeeks.Com – which is not to be confused with the Grumpy Beer Geek, not that you would make such an error – it’s made with lots of different kinds of fresh fish. It guess it's a French version of a cioppino. In either case, I would guess that soup purists might take offense at this recipe being called a bouillabaisse. Me. Not so much. If it tastes good, you can call it crap stew and I’ll eat it.

And, finally, Curried Coconut Shrimp on Rice Noodles. I posted this in July, but it seems worth pimping in a post about shrimp. It’s not the easiest recipe, but the end result is quite good.